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Carlyle Venture Partners CERTIFIED

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FIRM OVERVIEW: Large Private VC founded in 1987 based out of San Francisco, USA (US West)

FIRM DESCRIPTION: CVP is the US venture and growth capital arm of the Carlyle Group, the world's largest private equity firm with over $75B under management. Our fund investment team is located in San Francisco, CA and Washington, DC, and are open to companies in any location in North America. We are a balanced fund, and will invest across all stages.

Posted by
tubarlev2000
on 2007-10-22

PUBLIC:

I have the pleasure of working with David Lam on Bob Grady's team. David is exceptionally insightful and knowledgable about our space, and is always ready to contribute and help. This positive attitude, combined with the huge network of contacts that Carlyle brings to the table is a very powerful tool, which has helped me and my company reach a global coverage which otherwise would have been very difficult to achieve.

If you're pitching to the standard set of Sandhill Road VCs, and you haven't thought of Carlyle, you should. I have to admit I was skeptical at first, but I am really glad we met with this firm and eventually closed a round with them. Working with Allan Thygesen, the partner who funded us, has been the key factor.

Here is why you want to work with him: he has a pragmatic approach from having been on the operating side before, and he's made a real effort to have a deep understanding of our business. As a result, he is someone who I frequently call to solicit advice; he's a good sounding board on tough issues. He does not lecture, or force a McKinsey/ MBA "strategic framework" on top of every decision, and he does not always have to be right. This is refreshing after having had to deal with my share of blowhards. He also does more than just lob in ideas about what we should do, he is willing to help to make things happen. Allan identified an important early acquisition for us; we definitely would not have been able to complete the transaction without his assistance, and without the support from an associate who spent weeks working on the deal.

Posted by
Robert Holloway
on 2007-09-19

PUBLIC:

I have worked with and pitched multiple VC's . We have been funded by Allan Thygesen and the Carlyle team for several years across two ventures.

Ultimately the fund is about the people you work with and Allan is the guy to get hold of. He's got strong operational experience in tech start ups and has personally experienced the ups and downs of being in a start up. This generates a pragmatic partnership approach rather than some of the more conventional faceless MBA type number crunchers I've encountered. He's a no bullshit type of guy with a very friendly open demeanour.

Carlyle has undergone significant change since we were first funded. Of course the mother ship is huge, however the venture arm in SF maintains smaller shop feel.

The critical piece for me is how your investment partners react to the bad times rather than when everything is running smoothly. This is where Allan and his team has excelled. Very hands on if you want, very keen to learn about our business and just all round good colleague in and out of board meetings.

I've talked with other of their portfolio CEO's who echo these sentiments. Happy to answer questions if you are considering approaching them.

Posted by
jds
on 2007-08-29

PUBLIC:

Carlyle has staying power -- tremendously supportive through multiple rounds of financing. Opportunities to leverage the worldwide Carlyle network are real. We highly value accomplished advice in execution and operations from Allan Thygesen who sits on our Board -- I couldn't ask for (or even imagine) more!

Posted by
Ujjal
on 2007-08-23

PUBLIC:

Carlyle has been a fabulous investor for my early stage company. Allan Thygesen is exceptional in his knowledge, contacts and energy. He also brings a lot of relevant operating experience to the table. Amazingly, we have received active help from even the Private Equity partners of Carlyle around the world - their contacts and presence are unparalleled.

Reputation of mythic proportions; and in respect of deal making in the military-industrial complex maybe its deserved. For smaller start-up deals, they're pretty run of the mill with no special insight.

Posted by
london
on 2007-03-29

PUBLIC:

Spent three or four rounds pitching the same Principal and others he brought "into the room" only to have someone higher up talk to someone who had little information about my company but was tangentially involved and then those two rejected the deal with no further information--so in other words, we spent alot of time and effort transferring data that was not used in the true decision making process.